3rd Poole Sea Scouts Knots Games CSK013 1) Blackout knots 2) Blind man s knot 3) Bowline /sheet-bend draw 4) Chariot race 5) Fisherman s knot 6) Knotting baseball 7) Knotting circle 8) Knotting relay 9) Knot Relay (timed variation) 10) Knotty 11) Knot relay 12) Rope Throw 13) The rope Pyramid 14) Knots Galore 15) Rope throw rescue 16) Save my child 17) Knot Step Contest 18) Square knot relay 19) Friendship Circle Closing 20) Drop the knot 21) Knot Dodge 22) Human knot 23) Round robin knots 24) "Champ-Not" 25) Knots & Lashes 26) Giant clove hitch 27) Blind Knots 28) Reef knot race 29) Hands on land 30) Build a chariot
1 Blackout Knots All players have a piece of rope. Assign a specific knot. Shut out lights for a specified time and see how adept group is in the darkness. Vary knots called and time lights are out. 2 Blind man s Knot The patrol is blindfolded. The leader passes down the line, holding a piece of cord knotted in one of the familiar knots. Each boy may finger it for ten seconds to discover which knot it is. The patrol is then provided with a cord. At the word "Go" each blindfolded player makes the knot he considers the right one. The quickest (if correct) wins. 3 Bowline/Sheet-bend Draw Have the troop divide into pairs. Each pair lines up across from each other. Each Scout is given a piece of rope long enough to tie around his/her waist and leave a couple of extra feet. These ropes should be on the ground by the scout's feet. At the GO signal, each scout picks up his/her rope and ties a bowline around their waist. Then they join the rope with their partners rope using a sheet bend. They then back up until the ropes become taught, lean back and hold their hands in the air. As a Patrol competition, the first patrol to have all of their pairs done, wins. As an individual competition, each team competes independently. Check the knots, if they are wrong, have them start over, with time running. 4 Chariot Race When you get on to teaching the square lashing a good game, the chariot race. The Troop is divided into teams (of a fairly small number) and each team is given a chair and two staves. They then have a fixed period (say fifteen minutes) to build a chariot which simply involves square lashing each of the staves to either side of a chair so that they extend equally in front and behind of the chair. Warn Scouts that it is vital that the lashings are very tight. Then set up a race track, if space is limited then you will probably have to have each team running one at a time and time each, however if you can hold the race in a larger space it is possible for all teams to race together. One member of each team sits on the chair and the other team members must carry the chair by the staves only and run around the course. In running with the chair, any bad lashings will be disclosed since they will work undone. A suitable penalty should be imposed for any team that drops their passenger. This game always proves to be most entertaining, both for the members and for the leaders! 5 Fisherman's Knots Good practice for the real thing. Make your game realistic by using fishing line or leader. Teach the boys the basic fisherman's knots as well as the blood knot, clinch knot, perfection loop and line-to-leader knot, and use relays to develop skill and speed. 6 Knotting Baseball Same teams as baseball, but no bat or ball. Pitcher and batter each have a piece of rope. Pitcher calls name of knot and throws his rope to anyone in the field. If batter reaches first with knot tied correctly, he is safe. If knot tied (correctly) by fielder, reaches first before batter, he is out. If batter cannot tie knot called, he is out. If fielder cannot tie knot called, batting side scores one run whatever else happens. Fielders can then return ropes to second, third or home to "force" base runners. Make sure pitcher throws rope to all fielders and not too frequently to first base. 7 Knotting Circle Players in circle, one ties a knot in a bit of rope and drops it at the feet of one of another group, who must name the knot correctly and say if it is tied right before the tier has run around the circle. Whichever wins ties the next knot, and so on.
8 Knotting Relay Give all boys a chance to compete and practice. Use basic knots tied in a useful way: bowline around the waist, tie a sheet bend using two different thickness of rope, tie a clove hitch around a spar or pole. 9 Knot Relay (timed variation) Have the patrols line up behind a starting line. A leader stands opposite each patrol and has one or two ropes, and a pole (if desired). At the GO signal, each patrol sends one scout forward. The leader gives them a randomly selected knot. The scout then must successfully tie that knot before returning to their patrol. When each scout returns to the patrol, the next scout is sent forward. Count the number of knots tied. Keep moving until the game period has nearly expired. The patrol with the most successfully tied knots wins. By running this relay for a fixed time, there is no need to adjust for different sized groups. Each scout should get the opportunity to tie 2 or 3 different knots (at least). 10 Knotty 1) Each scout is provided with a thin rope that is a foot and a half long. 2) Two players sit face to face with about 8 feet between them. One player holds his rope in front of him and the other scout is the guesser. When the scout who is the guesser says Ready!" the other scout puts his cord behind him and makes any number of simple, single knots on it, from one to four. The knots are made as fast as possible and when done, the player brings his empty hand out in front of him. His opponent guesses how many knots there are on the cord. The guesser only has one chance. 3) Immediately upon the guess the rope is held out in front of the player who made the knots, in order to prove the guess right or wrong. The scout making the knots tries to fool his opponent by only making one knot, none, or several knots in the time it should take to make one, in order to fool his opponent. His face can give the expression that his hands are idle when they are actually busy or vice versa. 4) When playing this game as a Patrol competition, each player on each team has a turn at knotting and guessing before the winning side can count coup. A team can have a brief conference before guessing the number of knots made by the opposing Patrol. In patrol competition it is best to have a referee to keep track of the score made by each team. 11 Knot Relay The game simply involves each member of the team running across the hall, where they are told a knot to tie, and they must tie that before returning to there team and the next person running up to do their knot. Each player will be given a knot in a predetermined sequence and the sequence will be the same for all teams. Therefore the Scouts know that if they do not pay attention during the learning phase of the evening they will let their team down during the game phase. This is often sufficient incentive for them to make every effort to learn. You will need to decide in advance how to handle a competitor who, after making several attempts, still fails to tie the required knot, one possibility is for the next person in the team to come up (after the previous has been there for a set period of time), then the next person must tie the knot that the previous person failed at and one more person must come up at the end of the race so that the required number of knots get tied. 12 Rope Throw One member of group is seated on a piece of cardboard (2' x 2') 30' - 35' away from the group. Balance of group each have one piece of rope about 6' long. On "Go" each group must join all pieces of rope using a specified knot (square, reef, clove hitch) and throw completed rope close enough to player on cardboard so that he can reach it. Player on cardboard cannot move and rope must fall within his arms reach. When he catches rope, he must tie bowline around waist and be hauled across line where rest of group throws rope from. Works well on most indoor floors. If you haven't enough rope for all your groups, game can be run by groups in turn using best time to declare the winners.
13 The Rope Pyramid We had a pyramid shaped board with a tag for each scout. Any scout could challenge a scout on the line above him and if they tied all the eight knots correctly, first, the tags were switched. You could only challenge once a week. The top three could be challenged by anyone. The top three got to be so good that they could tie the knots behind their back. 14 Knots Galore Give the team captains a 24-inch length of rope. At the signal, the captains tie a knot in one end of the rope, the second player ties one near the first, and so on down the line. There should be one knot for each player on the team. After all the knots are tied and the number checked, it goes down the line again with each player untying a knot. First team to finish wins. 15 Rope Throw Rescue Each den (or team) has a coil of rope. Adults representing drowning victims are in the water. Each Webelos in turn throws the rope to the drowning person who grabs it and then lets it go. The player recoils the rope and hands it to the next player. Repeat until all den members have cast successfully. Can be played on land, too. 16 Save My Child You will need 6 pieces of 4-foot long rope per team, a blanket (for indoor game) or a wagon (for outdoor game), and a broom handle or stout stick. The object of the game is to tie the ropes together to have a rope long enough to throw to someone out about 15 feet away and pull them to safety. One boy sits on the blanket or in the wagon and waits for his team to tie the ropes together using square knots or sheet bends. Once the rope is thrown to the waiting boy, he must tie a bowline in the end while the other boys tie a clove hitch around the stick. All pulling must be done on the stick and not the rope. The first team to pull the boy to safety with all the knots properly tied wins. 17 Knot Step Contest Line up the Webelos at one end of the room. Each is given a 6-foot length of rope. Call out the name of a knot. Each Webelos ties the knot. Judges check the knot. Each Webelos who tied the knot correctly can take one step forward. The process is repeated until a Webelos is across the finish line. 18 Square Knot Relay Divide the den into two teams. Give each boy a piece of rope. At the signal, the first boy runs down to a rope lying on the ground, ties his piece to the end using a square knot or sheet bend, and returns. Each boy repeats in turn. The first team to successfully tie all pieces of rope together using correct knots wins. 19 Friendship Circle Closing Each den member is given a 3-foot length of rope that he ties to his neighbour s with a square knot so that a circle is made. Boys pull back on the line with their left hands and make the Cub Scout Sign with their right. The Den Leader says, "This circle shows the bond of friendship we have in Cub Scouting. Now please join me in the Cub Scout Promise." 20 Drop the Knot The group sits in a circle with their hands behind their back. One person walks around the outside with a piece of rope. They select someone, place the rope in their hands and say a knot. They then continue around the circle. The challenge is for the knot to be completed correctly before they return to the same place. If the knot is not finished or not correct, the person tying it changes place with them and goes around the circle with the rope. The game can be adjusted according to the knotting skills of participants - either by the range of knots that may be specified or if they are more competent with their knots by requiring the knot to be tied with hands kept behind the back.
21 Knot Dodge Two teams are numbered off. The leader of the game calls out a number and a knot. The person with the corresponding number from one team has to go to a designated point and tie the knot. The person from the other team with the same number has to go to another point and try to hit the person tying the knot by throwing a ball (or a beanbag) at them. So the person tying the knot has the double challenge of tying the knot correctly while also dodging the throws. We used to play this on a basketball court. A length of rope was tied hanging down from the stand behind the backboard, and the knot was tied with a second length of rope onto the first. The person tying the knot would signal they had completed it by swinging on the joined ropes. The person throwing the ball had to throw from behind the free throw line (with older scouts who can throw harder and more accurately this may even need to be inside the centre circle). They can go anywhere to retrieve the ball after a throw, but cannot throw it again until they have returned to the free throw line. 22 Human Knot Up to twelve people stand in a circle. Each would first put in their right hand and hold with another one (not adjacent to you). Then put in the left hand hold with another one (not adjacent to you). You must get the group untied without letting go of hands. 23 Round-Robin Knots Take the basic eight knots (overhand, square, clove hitch, two-half hitch, bowline, taut-line hitch, sheet bend, and timber hitch) and see who can tie them in 60 seconds or less. Good game that enforces the ability to tie knots. 24 "Champ-Not" All the boys form a circle, each with a length of rope. The instructor calls out a knot, and the boys tie it, and then drop the rope at their feet when finished. The first one to correctly tie the knot drops out, and then the remaining boys go for it again on signal. This process continues, using the same knot, until only one boy is left, who is then declared the "champ-not" for that knot. (The beauty of this game is that the boy who needs the most practice gets the most practice.) 25 Knots & Lashes Give each patrol three staves, and three lengths of rope about 10 feet long. On "go," they have to lash the three staves in a triangular shape (using square lashings), then use the resulting structure as a platform to carry a patrol member a certain distance and then back to the finish line. Lots of fun - requires them to know how to lash, and know how to lash well enough that the structure doesn't come apart while carrying one of their buddies! Also requires teamwork, planning, etc. 26 Giant Clove Hitch Put a pole in a ten-foot circle. (In a gym, a volleyball net pole in the middle of the Centre basketball circle works fine.) Hand each end of a thirty-foot plus rope to two scouts, and tell them to tie a clove hitch on the pole, without stepping into the circle, and without letting go of the rope. 27 Blind Knots Tie 8-10 different knots and put them in bags of textile fabrics, one in each bag. See if anyone can recognize all of the knots without opening the bags. You can let them put their hands in the bag or just touch on the outside. 28 Reef knot race Each girl has a piece of string (or thin rope is better) with 4 beads on. They challenge each other to a "who can tie the fastest (correct) reef knot" contest - the winner then takes a bead from the loser. They can then challenge someone else who has the same (or higher) number of beads on their string to another race - the game winner is the person with the most beads on their string at the end of an allotted time.
29 Hands on land Give each girl a piece of string or cord at least 18" long, up to a yard. Get the girls to stand in a circle & each tie their cord to their neighbours with a reef knot (or sheet bend etc). Once the knots are all correct you should have a large ring of cord. Get everyone to sit just outside the circle. The inside of the circle is the "sea" and the outside is "land". If you say, "hands in the sea" everyone puts their hands inside the rope, if you say, "hands on land" they put them outside and if you say, "hands on shore" they put their hands on the rope. Last one to get it right is out. My guides preferred to stand and jump "in the sea" or whatever. 30 Build a chariot A chariot is built in the same way as a monopod, except the crosspiece needs to be longer. You can use yellow dusters attached with elastic bands to pad the feet. Then one person stands on the cross piece, between the uprights, and one or two others (depending on relative size!) hold the top and drag the "charioteer" along. You could hold a chariot race. Book Created By: Stuart Coates